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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140039">Kid, It Gets Better in College</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boys Kissing, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Swearing, college!lawrusso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:00:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fluffy, slow-burn type of story with Daniel and Johnny in college. They become friends and then more than friends.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kid, It Gets Better in College</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daniel threw his last bag onto his bed and looked around the dorm room. He hadn’t been sure about this, but the college insisted that freshmen live in the dorms for the first year. His dorm assignment had gotten messed up, so he still had no idea who he was sharing with. He knew it’d be a physical therapy major like him, they tried to make sure you had at least one thing in common.</p><p>The other guy was already moved in and he actually had some karate posters up on the wall. Daniel grinned, maybe this was going to be okay after all.</p><p>He went back downstairs to say goodbye to his mom. She teared up, but he promised he’d call her a lot. He had waved until she was around the corner and couldn’t see him. Some people had given him looks but he could care less about what they thought.</p><p>He ran up the stairs two at a time to his second-floor dorm room, pushed the door open, and came face to face with Johnny Lawrence. </p><p>Daniel’s mouth fell open and he started stuttering, “I -- I didn’t know you -- you’re going here too?”</p><p>Johnny looked surprised at first but quickly recovered, plastering his sarcastic smirk on his face, “Yeah, LaRusso, I’m going here. In fact, looks like we’re roommates.” </p><p>Daniel gulped and looked at the karate posters and the navy blue bedspread, and the red jacket hanging in the closet, and managed to squeak out, “Oh … is that, going to be a problem?”</p><p>Johnny laughed, “Uh, no. I think you’re alright, remember? Besides, I’ve been trying to turn over a new leaf since … everything that happened.”</p><p>Daniel just nodded and said, “Yeah, okay. So you’re going for physical therapy too, huh?”</p><p>Johnny settled onto his bed, walkman over to the side, and said, “Oh, yeah. I thought it made sense.”</p><p>Daniel nodded again, sitting down on his own bed, “It does.”</p><p>They ended up talking as they finished moving in, rearranging stuff in their room, and, amazingly, bonding. Daniel went to sleep smiling that day. Maybe this was going to be fine, after all. </p><p>Between meeting new people, finding all his classes, and dealing with homesickness, the first few weeks of school flew by. It was October before he knew it. He and Johnny had been getting along fine and had even started working on homework together sometimes. They had most of the same classes, so it was easy to work together. </p><p>They both started making friends with some of the same people and other physical therapy majors, so it wasn’t a surprise when they both ended up at the same Halloween party. </p><p>Daniel rushed into the dorm room, throwing his backpack on his bed, and ran to his closet. Johnny was already ready and about to leave, straightening his clothes in the mirror.</p><p>“Where’s the fire, LaRusso?” he asked, brushing his hair into place, stepping back to watch the other boy frantically grabbing things out of his closet. </p><p>“Got kept late at the library -- group project,” Daniel said, throwing clothes on his bed. “Are we supposed to, like, dress up for this?”</p><p>“Nah, I don’t think you have to,” Johnny said, leaning on his dresser. “I’m not.”</p><p>“Okay, good, ‘cause I don’t have anything that could work as a costume. I just want to make sure I don’t look weird.” </p><p>“Well, that might be a challenge.”</p><p>“Ha. Ha. Come over here and help me then if you have so many opinions,” Daniel demanded.</p><p>“Okay, okay, lemme see,” Johnny nudged Daniel over to the side and looked over his clothes. He gestured at a few of his shirts, “The red ones, wear one of those.”</p><p>“Yeah? Red?” Daniel asked, studying them closer, and choosing the one he liked best.</p><p>“Yeah, red’s a good color on you.”</p><p>“Awesome, thanks Johnny,” Daniel grinned up at him.</p><p>“My pleasure, LaRusso, least I can do to make sure I don’t show up with someone who looks like a dork. Let’s go,” Johnny smirked and gestured to the door.</p><p>On the way to the party, Daniel kept up a steady stream of commentary on who he thought might be there, how people would dress, what he thought might happen since it was Halloween, how much he should drink, and on, and on, bouncing on the balls of his feet with almost every step. Johnny nodded and agreed, content to let the other boy’s energy wash over him.</p><p>They got to the house hosting the party and went their separate ways. Daniel headed to the basement to meet some of his friends, Johnny to the kitchen to grab a beer and maybe find a cute girl to hang out with for the night. </p><p>Things worked out pretty well for him. He was chatting up Jackie, a girl who had seemed interested at school and after an hour they were making out.</p><p>She pulled back and said, “Hey, you wanna go to the basement?”</p><p>“Uh, what’s in the basement?” he asked, dazed.</p><p>“It’s quieter, more private,” she winked.</p><p>He looked around the bright, loud room and started nodding. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the stairs. They found a quiet corner away from the other couples and got into it a little heavier than before. After a while, one of Jackie’s friends came down to get her because their group was leaving. She looked regretfully at Johnny but gave him her phone number, promising they would meet up again. </p><p>Johnny leaned back and relaxed for a second, smiling to himself. He wasn’t one to jump the gun, but he was pretty sure he was on track to have a girlfriend in a few days. He was about to get up and leave, noticing that the basement had emptied considerably since he’d come down when he heard a familiar laugh carry across the room. </p><p>He looked around and spotted Daniel sitting with some guy. He couldn’t tell for sure, but from the way Daniel was swaying and giggling, he looked drunk … really drunk. Just then, the guy he was with leaned over, pressing him into the couch. Johnny saw Daniel’s arms snake around him, but did he really know what he was doing? </p><p>He decided he was going to go see, just in case. They had become friends or at least friendly since being roommates. So he walked over and pulled the other guy off of Daniel.</p><p>“Hey, man, what the hell?” the guy stood up, slightly taller than Johnny, and got up in his face.</p><p>“Can’t you see he’s completely out of it? He doesn’t know what he’s agreeing to, man,” said Johnny, standing his ground. </p><p>As if to illustrate his point, Daniel sat up giggling, completely oblivious to the tension in the air around him. </p><p>“I’m taking him back to his room. Don’t follow us,” Johnny stated, staring the other guy down.</p><p>The other guy snorted and backed off, muttering, “Fine, whatever, he’s hot, but he’s not worth this much trouble.”</p><p>It was only because Johnny had been practicing self-restraint for months that he didn’t punch the guy. Instead, he took a deep breath, helped Daniel to his feet, and got him back to the dorm room in one piece. </p><p>The next morning, Daniel could barely remember what had happened but made sure to thank Johnny for having his back. Johnny just nodded and muttered something about that being what friends are for. They didn’t talk about it after that and Johnny tried to forget about it. </p><p>It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Johnny overheard a guy (Daniel’s boyfriend? He wasn’t sure, but he sure had been hanging around the dorm room a lot), talking to a few other guys before one of his classes. Johnny sat down close by to hear what they were saying and immediately froze when he realized what they were talking about.</p><p>The maybe-boyfriend spoke over the other’s laughter, “Yeah, it’s almost getting to be too much. Like he just wants it so bad. I’m getting tired, honestly.” </p><p>His friends laughed and one of them said, “Hey, at least he’s fucking hot.”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s true, you guys have no idea,” he grinned, putting his hands behind his head.</p><p>“So, have you fucked him yet?”</p><p>“Nah, he’s holding out, but I think he’ll let me soon.”</p><p>The guys kept chuckling but had to shut up because the teacher walked in and started class.</p><p>Johnny was seething, not paying attention to the class, at all. How the fuck was he going to handle this? He couldn’t let them say this shit about Daniel. Scumbags like this always existed, but fuck. He had to do something.</p><p>He got back to the dorm, threw his stuff down, and turned to Daniel who was sitting on his bed studying.</p><p>“Hey, LaRusso, I know we don’t talk about stuff like this, but I gotta know, this guy who’s been hanging around, is he your boyfriend?”</p><p>“Hmm?” said Daniel, distracted, “Oh, no. Actually, I’m thinking of staying away from him. He’s boring and he’s not very good at … things.”</p><p>Johnny’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Daniel leaned in conspiratorially, “I keep trying to get him to try different moves and stuff and he just does <em>not</em> get it.” </p><p>Johnny laughed, “Yeah?” Here this guy was thinking Daniel wanted him so bad, but the guy was just so clumsy that he was trying to give him a chance to improve. “Okay, well, that’s good. I’ve heard some stuff about the guy that … isn’t great.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Daniel replied, still leaned in like he was telling a secret, “to be honest, I kind of just wanted to get a lot of things out of the way. I didn’t have any experience with guys from before, so, you know, college and whatever.” </p><p>Johnny just nodded, not knowing what to say.</p><p>“What about you?” Daniel asked.</p><p>“What about me, what?”</p><p>“Do you have any experience with, you know, guys?” Daniel asked, all curiosity and wide eyes, “I wish I knew even one person I could talk to about this stuff.”</p><p>“Oh, I -- no, sorry,” Johnny said, stumbling over his words, “I guess I never … considered it?”</p><p>Daniel sighed, “Yeah, I figured. It’s not super common, is it?”</p><p>Johnny shrugged. He felt like he was pretty useless in this conversation so far so he added, “Hey, but, if you ever need someone to talk to, I don’t mind. Guys and girls aren’t that different, really.”</p><p>Daniel smiled and said, “Hey, thanks. You know, you’re pretty cool, Lawrence.”</p><p>“Thanks, LaRusso.”</p><p>It wasn’t for another few weeks, until Daniel walked into the room, bouncing on the balls of his feet, grinning like an idiot, that they had any reason to talk about the topic again. </p><p>“Johnny,” he said, “You ready to make good on your offer to talk about guys?”</p><p>Johnny chuckled, “Sure, just lemme finish this answer before I forget.” He scribbled down the last sentence and closed his book, turning to face Daniel who was sitting cross-legged on his bed across the room.</p><p>“Okay,” Daniel began, talking with his hands even more than normal, “So, I have a crush on this guy, but I don’t know if he likes me too. Actually, I don’t even know if he likes guys so I’m in kind of a weird situation. I was wondering, and please say no if you don’t want to, but could we invite him over with some of our other friends this weekend?”</p><p>“Of course,” said Johnny, “Who is it anyway?”</p><p>“Mark,” replied Daniel, “He’s in our Anat. &amp; Phys. class.”</p><p>“Uh,” Johnny thought for a second, “Oh, sure, tall, dark hair, seems pretty smart?”</p><p>“Yup, that’s him,” Daniel rolled over on his bed and grabbed a book to read.</p><p>“So,” Johnny began, “what is it about him?” </p><p>“Uh, I don’t know,” Daniel started, “I haven’t talked to him that much but when I have he seems genuinely kind. Plus he’s confident and … this is going to sound stupid, but it’s like he’s even more than confident, he’s … bold?” </p><p>Johnny laughed, “Bold? Who says stuff like that?”</p><p>Daniel laughed, “I know, I know. Whatever.”</p><p>The weekend rolled around and it turned out Daniel had pretty good instincts. Mark asked him out at the end of the night. </p><p>It was a few weeks later when Johnny walked into the dorm at 11 pm and found Daniel straddling Mark’s lap, hands in his hair, making out like it was their last night on Earth, and he felt his stomach sink and flip over at the same time. </p><p>“Uh, sorry,” he mumbled as Daniel scrambled off Mark. </p><p>“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Daniel said. He stood up, walking Mark to the door and into the hallway.</p><p>Johnny heard muffled talking followed by a long pause. Didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were doing. Johnny rolled his eyes, throwing his backpack down and getting ready for bed.</p><p>Daniel walked back in looking flushed and happier than Johnny had seen him all year. </p><p>“Haven’t you ever heard of putting a sock on the door?” Johnny asked, glancing at Daniel.</p><p>Daniel laughed, “Sorry Johnny, we didn’t exactly plan that it just kind of … happened,” he ran his hands through his hair and started getting ready for bed too. </p><p>Johnny wanted to stay annoyed, but when Daniel looked so happy, he couldn’t. He smiled and said, “Things are going well, then, I take it?”</p><p>Daniel smiled and nodded, “Yeah, really really well.”</p><p>Johnny let out a breath and climbed into bed. “I’m really happy for you. I’m glad you found a decent guy.” </p><p>“Thanks, Johnny,” Daniel smiled at him, climbing into bed and turning off the light.</p><p>As it turned out, they were both staying at school for most of the winter break to work. They had made it through finals with very little sleep and a lot of frantic study sessions, and now they finally got to rest and have some fun. When Daniel found out Johnny was staying too, he cheered, “Yes! I thought I was going to be stuck here alone for a month. Mark’s going home and he lives a few states away so I won’t be able to see him at all.”</p><p>Johnny nodded, “Yeah, Jackie’s going home too.”</p><p>Daniel sighed, “Well, we’ll just have to find things to do to stay entertained.”</p><p>Turns out, the campus was really fun when almost everyone was gone. They got to use everything in the gym almost exclusively, they watched movies all night and made as much noise as they wanted, they explored parts of the campus they never got to see and ate almost every meal together in the almost-empty cafeteria. </p><p>With so much time on their hands, they kept finding more things they had in common. They liked the same sports, the same music, the same cars. They had a lot of the same celebrity crushes and wanted to watch the same movies. These were easy, surface things, but it made spending time together feel effortless.</p><p>Secretly, Daniel enjoyed the things they didn’t have in common because then he got to learn more about Johnny. He loved watching him talk about something he was really passionate about, a genuine smile gracing his features where there was usually only a knowing smirk or an impersonal grin.</p><p>It hadn’t taken very long, but Daniel found himself trusting Johnny. He always had his back. He always listened like he actually cared about what Daniel had to say, which, Daniel thought, was impressive, because everyone was always telling him he talked too much.</p><p>So it wasn’t difficult, when one night they were watching a movie and Johnny cleared his throat, looking nervous, for Daniel to ask him what was up and reassured him he could tell him anything.</p><p>Johnny huffed out a laugh and said, “Yeah, I guess I just wanted to know how you knew you were, you know, into guys as well as girls?”</p><p>Daniel frowned slightly, this was always a difficult question, “I don’t know exactly. I guess I just realized one day that I was attracted to some guys and could see myself having a relationship with them. It wasn’t really that different from how you realize you like a girl, at least for me.”</p><p>Johnny nodded, frowning, so Daniel tried to elaborate.</p><p>“I mean, it wasn’t easy to accept. I was confused for a long time. Love and attraction are so variable. I had to figure out what it was I was even feeling, like, do I just want to be this guy’s friend? Do I only like him emotionally? Do I think he’s hot because he is and I’m not oblivious or do I actually want something with him? I second-guessed and went back and forth for a long, long time. I was confused all throughout high school. I decided that I needed to try being with a guy once I was in a new place, and, yeah, here we are,” Daniel concluded, letting out a huge breath.</p><p>Johnny nodded and then said, “I think I know more what you mean now. I’ve been questioning things for a while, but I don’t know. I’m still conflicted.”</p><p>Daniel nodded, “Yeah, I get that.”</p><p>Johnny let out a sigh and said, “So, you were trying to figure things out already in high school?”</p><p>“Yeah, there was this guy, older brother of one of my friends back in Newark. Looking back, I think I had a massive crush on him,” Daniel laughed.</p><p>Johnny smiled and nodded, “High school crushes. The worst.”</p><p>Daniel laughed, “Yeah, but hey if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here. You did the same for me.”</p><p>Johnny thanked him, bumping his elbow into Daniel’s, and they went back to watching the movie.</p><p>________</p><p>The next semester started uneventfully for Johnny. He and Jackie had settled into a routine but it felt like she was drifting away. One weekend in March, she invited Johnny over and tearfully broke up with him. She had feelings for someone else and she felt like Johnny wasn’t all there when they were together anyway. He just nodded, bottled up his emotions, and walked back to his dorm, feeling cold down to his bones. To top it off, he spotted Mark making out with some girl on the way back, groaned internally, and started to think about how the hell he was going to tell Daniel.</p><p>“Okay,” Johnny began, “You have terrible taste in men.”</p><p>Admittedly, it wasn’t a great way to start, but Johnny wasn’t feeling great.</p><p>“Oh?” said Daniel, smirking slightly.</p><p>“Yeah, your piece of shit boyfriend was making out with some girl just now. I saw them on the way here, and you know what --”</p><p>Daniel got up from his bed and came over to Johnny, grabbing both his arms gently, “Hey, hey, I broke up with him weeks ago near the beginning of the semester. It’s okay.”</p><p>Johnny just stood there stunned and that’s when he felt tears prick his eyes. He turned away quickly, moving things around on his desk to try to look busy.</p><p>“Did … something else happen?” Daniel asked, quietly.</p><p>“Jackie dumped me,” he replied.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Johnny. If there’s anything you need, you name it, okay?”</p><p>Johnny just nodded, grabbing his walkman. He slid on his headphones, sat back on his bed, and zoned out. </p><p>April rolled around and everyone was trying to hold onto that small lull between midterms and the inevitable sprint to finals in May. Some of their friends were throwing a huge party and they both agreed to go.</p><p>“So, you gonna be trolling for guys?” Johnny grinned, getting ready to go.</p><p>Daniel chuckled, “Nah, I don’t think so. What about you? Got your eye on anyone?”</p><p>“No, but you never know,” Johnny said, shrugging.</p><p>Daniel just chuckled and they headed out.</p><p>The party was a rager. Johnny and Daniel stuck together and managed to keep a nice buzz rather than getting wasted so when they walked home they were laughing and recounting stories of all the crazy shit that happened, rather than finding a secluded place to barf like a lot of the people they passed on the sidewalk.</p><p>When they got back to the dorm they put in a movie, energy still buzzing through them from the party. They both took a spot on the floor and sat in comfortable silence, elbows and knees brushing on accident.</p><p>Part of the way through the movie Daniel sat forward, talking down at his hands in his lap, “Hey Johnny?”</p><p>“Hmm?” Johnny asked, feeling content and at ease with the soft buzz and low sounds from the movie.</p><p>“Are you still conflicted?” Daniel asked, quietly.</p><p>And Johnny shouldn’t have known what he meant immediately, but he did.</p><p>“Because if you are, and you need to see if you’re even interested in guys, there’s always … me,” Daniel finished speaking so quietly Johnny had to lean forward to hear him.</p><p>A flush rushed to his cheeks and he managed to mumble, “There’s always you?”</p><p>Daniel nodded, still looking down at his hands, “Yeah, ya know, if you wanted to kiss me or something. I wouldn’t say no.”</p><p>Johnny felt his stomach flip over and the heat in his cheeks intensify. He replied, “I -- okay, I, yeah.”</p><p>Daniel smiled, finally looking back at him, “Yeah?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Johnny nodded, “If I was going to try something with anyone it’d be you, but I just, not right now. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”</p><p>Daniel smiled again and looked back at his hands, “Okay, Johnny. Just letting you know, the offer’s out there if you ever want it.”</p><p>Johnny gulped, hoping it wasn’t audible and went back to watching the movie.</p><p>A few days later they were memorizing complicated words with flashcards, going back and forth, trying to learn them faster than the other. They finished the deck and Johnny cleared his throat, “Hey Daniel?"</p><p>“Yeah, Johnny?” Daniel asked, putting away the cards and getting out a book from a different class. </p><p>“So, you broke up with Mark at the beginning of this semester?”</p><p>“Yeah,” said Daniel, standing up and looking at Johnny, giving him his full attention.</p><p>“Was there … why? I thought everything was going so well between you two.”</p><p>“It was going fine, but I had feelings for someone else. It didn’t feel right to string Mark along,” Daniel replied.</p><p>“And you realized this … before the second semester, but after the first?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“So, was that, like, over winter break?” Johnny was blushing now, looking anywhere but at Daniel.</p><p>“Yeah, it was over winter break that I realized it,” Daniel replied, staring right at Johnny.</p><p>“We spent a lot of time together over winter break.”</p><p>“Yeah, we did,” Daniel was smiling now, daring him to ask the question. </p><p>Johnny just gulped and looked around the room, not sure what to say next.</p><p>Daniel smirked and walked over to him, leaning down to get right in his face, and said, “Hey Johnny?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Would it be okay, if I kissed you right now?”</p><p>Johnny just nodded, staring at Daniel with wide eyes. </p><p>Daniel smiled, setting one hand over Johnny’s heart and sliding it slowly up his chest, running his fingertips over his neck and up to his jaw, holding his face gently. He leaned in, kissing him softly, feeling heat and electricity run through his body, a jolt of attraction he’d never felt before. He grinned into the kiss and exhaled, pulling back slowly.</p><p>“Wow,” Daniel whispered.</p><p>Johnny was breathing hard and just nodded, “Yeah, wow.”</p><p>Daniel leaned forward and touched their foreheads together, whispering, “I like you, Johnny. If you decide you like me, too, make the next move.” </p><p>He pulled away, grabbing his backpack and heading for the door, smiling while he said, “I’m gonna go study. I’m sure you have plenty to think about.” </p><p>Johnny watched him go, mouth hanging open. When the door shut he fell back on his bed and breathed, “Holy shit.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you liked this fluffy story! Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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